Analyzing and refuting the inaccuracies lodged against the lgbt community by religious conservative organizations. Lies in the name of God are still lies.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

The so-called Christian group Family Research Council supports abandoning Syrian refugees

FRC president Tony Perkins

I have yet to see any of these so-called morality groups appeal to kindness or clarity when it comes to the case of the Syrian refugees who have become the scapegoats of the recent attack on Paris. If their comments are like those below from the Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, then its simply another notch in their belts of lies and duplicity:

That's an uncomfortable reality, even for the church. There seems to
be a growing chorus of Christians who justify these open-door policies
on immigration or asylum with the Bible's command to "love the
stranger." I agree, we should love the stranger -- but that doesn't mean
we have to do so at the expense of our own security. The president's
chief responsibility is to protect Americans from all enemies, foreign
and domestic. It's our job then, as individuals, to show love and
compassion. And there are plenty of charitable solutions for refugees
that don't involve bringing them to America, unchecked and
unaccountable. One option would be to make their homelands safe while we
offer as much humanitarian relief as possible.

Our nation can be caring and benevolent without unnecessarily
endangering our own people. What many forget is that in Scripture,
loving the stranger is just one component. God also commands these
foreigners to assimilate and keep the laws of the land. As Exodus 12:49
makes clear: "There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger
who sojourns among you." The United States' goal should be a safe haven
for everyone. And that means protecting the refugees' shelter abroad
without sacrificing ours at home.

The statement sounds reasonable except for the fact that it is predicated on the unverified belief that one of the perpetrators of the attack in Paris posed as a Syrian refugee.

The majority of attackers were identified as French or Belgian
nationals. An Egyptian passport was also found, but the Egyptian
Ambassador to France said
it belonged to a critically wounded victim and not a perpetrator. The
Syrian passport caused a ruckus, with some politicians in Europe and the
U.S. calling for a halt to Syrian refugee resettlement. An increasing number of state governors are trying to defund the settlement program. American officials told CBS News that the passport might be fake, while British-daily the Independent reported that a man was arrested in Serbia while carrying a Syrian passport with matching details to the one found in Paris.

We all know that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attacks but again, the passport claim has not been verified as a complete fact.

It's sad that an organization like the Family Research Council, which poses as the moral guardian of America, doesn't even want to throw out a measured voice of reason, but instead appeal to the hysteria. If anything, the organization is symbolic of the vile duplicity of some (but not all) on the evangelical right . At various times this year,several religious right figures and GOP politicians have claimed that they are proud of their Christian faith or that America is a Christian nation. And they have said this to auditoriums filled with sycophants who ate up their every word with a heavy dose of self-righteousness on the side.

These are some of the same folks which claim that God is testing America over the argument of same-sex marriage or God is going to condemn American for same-sex marriage.

I tend to think THIS moment right here, right now is the test. In the face of fear, when it is so easy to take the side of the coward, I have to ask these evangelicals and so-called Christian politicians, who are abandoning their bravado, just where is their faith? Where is their courage? Where is their God who is supposedly on their side when they condemn lgbts or attack women for wanting control of their own bodies? Is He scared of ISIS, too?

Or have you been misrepresenting yourselves all of this time?

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ - Matthew 25: 35-40

Yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no
evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. - Psalms 23:4

2 comments:

It's possible to work towards making Syria safe again through a political solution while offering a home to the refugees who are pouring out of it, the vast majority of whom are fleeing people like those who carried out the Paris attack. Certain US politicians are using the attack to overreact and indulge their xenophobia.

About Me

Alvin McEwen is 45-year-old African-American gay man who resides in Columbia, SC.
McEwen's blog, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, and writings have been mentioned by Americablog.com, Goodasyou.org, People for the American Way, PageOneQ.com, The Washington Post, Raw Story, The Advocate, Media Matters for America, Crooksandliars.com, Thinkprogress.org, Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, Melissa Harris-Perry, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, The Washington Blade, and Foxnews.com.
In addition, he is also a past contributor to Pam's House Blend,Justice For All, LGBTQ Nation, and Alternet.org. He is a present contributor to the Daily Kos and the Huffington Post,
He is the 2007 recipient of the Harriet Daniels Hancock Volunteer of the Year Award and the 2010 recipient of the Order of the Pink Palmetto from the SC Pride Movement as well as the 2009 recipient of the Audre Lorde/James Baldwin Civil Rights Activist Award from SC Black Pride. In addition, he is a three-time nominee of the Ed Madden Media Advocacy Award from SC Pride.